Thomas Tew

Thomas Tew (1640-September 1695) was a pirate from Rhode Island who operated in the Pacific Ocean alongside Henry Every. He died in the failed attempt to capture the Mughal Empire's ship Ganj-i-Sawai in 1695.

Biography
Thomas Tew's family was born in Maidford, Northamptonshire, England, and his family moved to Rhode Island in 1640. Tew engaged in privateering against the Kingdom of France and Spain prior to moving to Bermuda in 1691, and in 1692 he obtained letters of marque. Tew captained the sloop Amity, but he decided to become a pirate rather than raid French possessions in The Gambia, and in late 1693 he captured a large Indian ship (which had a 300-strong garrison) in the Red Sea. Governor Benjamin Fletcher of New York befriended Tew when he briefly returned to America in 1694, and in November 1694 he became a privateer once more. In August 1695, he joined forces with Henry Every and attacked a 25-ship treasure convoy of the Mughal Empire in the Red Sea the next month, and he attacked the ship Fateh Muhammad as Every focused on the treasure ship Ganj-i-Sawai. During the battle, Tew was disemboweled by a cannon shot, and his crew surrendered; they would later be freed by Every, who was able to take the loot of 500,000 coins for himself.